that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before. I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you: only, whereunto we have attained, by that same rule let us walk.
Phil 3:10-16
I believe I have made clear to you now how Paul’s thoughts connect together. Now I come to his main point: appropriating, attaining, getting, making eternal life ours. I pointed out in Gem 1974 that “It is not by accident or chance that Paul uses the notion “to attain to” and its derivatives and synonyms five times in three verses.
- καταντήσω – I may attain to (3:11)
- ἔλαβον – I received (3:12)
- καταλάβω – I may lay hold (3:12)
- κατελήμφθην – I was laid hold of (3:12)
- κατειληφέναι – to have laid hold (3:13)
Paul knows exactly what he is doing in gathering these words together, but I have said enough for the moment. I will return to the matter of attaining to when we return to Paul’s main thing in a few Gems.
I just didn’t realise it would take another eight Gems to get to this point. But I trust you will agree with me that it has been worth it to spend the time looking at the detail of what Paul wrote for the Philippians and for all believers, including us. I say over and over in the context of Deeper Bible we have to pay attention to the repetition of certain words. That is where the emphasis is put in both Hebrew and Greek and in fact in all languages. If we have an important point to make it is good to say it a number of times. Well that is exactly what Paul has done in this passage. Let me say it again for emphasis.
- I want to experience the resurrection from the dead. (3:11)
- I haven’t already got hold of it (3:12)
- But I press on to possess (attain) . . . (3:12)
- that for which Christ first took hold of me. (3:12)
- I haven’t achieved it yet, but this one thing I do . . . (3:13)
- I pursue the heavenly prize, (3:14)
- If we are to be made perfect let us be like-minded (3:15)
- if we are otherwise-minded, God will reveal it. (3:15)
- for that to which we have attained, grasped (3:16)
- Let us walk in it, make it ours, follow the examples. (3:16)
We could sum up all of that repetitive comment by saying:- How can I obtain the prize of the LIFE of the Age to Come?
Oh what a good question my friend! There is probably no more important question for you to ask. And even more so, to find the answer to. Paul has made this comment a number of times in his letters, always in the context or reaching the finish line and not missing the prize. Two of you have emailed me and made the comment about Olympic competition and the fact that there can be only one winner. That is not strictly true because in the modern day Olympics there are three winners:- Gold, Silver and Bronze. However, think about this! Paul writes at God’s inspiration – I press on to possess that for which Christ took hold of me.
- What was that?
- Why did Christ take hold of us?
- God loved the world so much that He gave us His one and only unique Son (Jesus Christ) so that whoever believed (trusted in Him) would not perish but have eternal life (Zoē). (John 3:16)
Jesus Christ took hold of us that we might take hold of Him. How many winners are there in God’s plan? A WORLD of winners. Whosoevers. There is not just one winner with God. However many want to, can gain eternal life. If you don’t have the mind of Christ in you, the same mind that was in Paul, Timothy or Epaphroditus, but If you think otherwise, then God will reveal it to you. Once you realise the importance of having the mind of Christ, you need to go after it with all your might, like an athlete. Make this your one thing that you do.
I KNOW these things are true. Paul said a number of verses ago (3:10-11)
- that I may know Him
- that I may know the power of His resurrection from the dead
- that I may know the conformity to his sufferings
- that I may experience the resurrection from the dead (like He did).
And how might that happen?
By having the mind of Christ. By understanding things from God’s point of view.
- “But Ian, I am Other Minded.”
- “I am an Atheist”
- “I am an Agnostic.”
I understand that. I have been both an atheist and an agnostic. The term Atheist comes from Greek [a-theos] which simply means “someone without God“. Not a wise position to be in. Finally after 23 years I realised the error of my thinking, I asked God to forgive me and repented (turned around). Agnostic is also an interesting term. Intellectuals use the word “agnostic” like a badge of knowledge. “Oh I don’t go with that thinking. I can’t agree with the mind of Christ. I am an Agnostic.” They use this Greek word to show their knowledge and silence the one talking to them. Agnōsis in Greek is a compound word made up from a and gnōsis. The ‘a’ is a negating prefix while ‘gnōsis’ is the word for knowledge, or as a verb “to know”. Colloquially speaking to be ignorant, unintelligent, unknowledgeable or stupid, an ignoramus. I don’t think you want to hold to that mindset. Imagine holding on to that thinking at the moment Paul described when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is YHWH. (See Gem 1940)
There is one more mindset I wish to address before I deal with the last verse in this segment. That’s the idea many church goers (and even some committed Christians) have. The idea that your entry into Life Eternal is determined by whether your good deeds in this life outweighed your bad deeds (or sins). How often I hear the chorus, “I believe I will get eternal life / get to heaven because I have been a basically good person. The good I have done far outweighs the bad.” Your entry into the Life of the Age to Come has nothing to do with your good deeds. Do you realise it is this mindset which Paul called dung. His old pharisaical outlook is what Paul himself saw in a new light. Your righteousness counts for nothing. (Isaiah 64:6). We don’t have a leg to stand on in the moment when Jesus Christ returns (the Day of the LORD) unless we are in Christ and our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. If you don’t know what I am talking about then you are an agnostic in the true sense of the word. If that is the case then I beg you to read the fine print of the way you appropriate Zoē Life. Jesus Christ is the only one who grants eternal life to those who have a relationship with Him. That is why Paul wanted to know Him and the power of His resurrection and to experience the resurrection from the dead. That is why Jesus said:
You carefully study the Scriptures. You think that they give you eternal life. These same Scriptures tell about me! But you refuse to come to me to have that life. Easy to Read Version [ERV]
John 5:39-40
Now I have one final thing to do before we can move on. That is to explain the rather puzzling last verse in this segment (3:16). Especially as it is translated in the ASV, a literal version.
only, whereunto we have attained, by that same rule let us walk.
Phil 3:16
Allow me to spell out the meaning by using the versions as I so often recommend you do.
- (ERV) But we should continue following the truth we already have.
- (ESV) Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
- (GNB) However that may be, let us go forward according to the same rules we have followed until now.
- (GW) However, we should be guided by what we have learned so far.
- (NET) Nevertheless, let us live up to the standard that we have already attained.
- (NLT) But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.
Or in the Literal Expanded Ian Vail Version (LEIVV)
by that (level of understanding) to which we have reached (attained to); to the extent we have grasped it, let us walk.
Notice we have now stopped running and started walking. Running the race of life and walking the life are Bible metaphors for living out the truth we have seen. I am sure it won’t come as a surprise to you when we leave this passage in the next Gem and move to the next segment, to see Paul’s thoughts are still connected.
To continue in atheism I would need to believe that nothing produces everything, non-life produces life, randomness produces fine-tuning, chaos produces information, unconsciousness produces consciousness and non-reason produces reason. I simply don’t have that much faith.
Lee Strobel
Every time you call yourself an agnostic, you’re actually claiming to be stupid.
Rick Renner
As they say, sometimes the truth hurts. But it hurts more when we wish to hold on to untruth rather than confess our error.
Ian Vail
How would you like to stand before God on Judgement Day and say… “It can’t be true, You don’t exist!”
Ian Vail
Keep up the good work Dr Vail.
Thanks Ross. I will.